Readjustment
by Basil-Ovelby
Summary: Falco takes it upon himself to perform a little matchmaking for his friend after the last three Brawl newcomers arrive, with rather surprising results. Falco x Fox x Wolf, plus numerous mentions of other pairings. Epilogue added!
1. Chapter 1

Gah, what is with my super long one-shots as of late? I don't even understand... Probably because I know that I can never finish multi-chaptered fics, so I just try to write everything into a single, contained story. I guess I can't really complain, at least I'm finishing stuff, ahaha.

This is another one of the random ideas that's been floating around in my head, and it was bugging me enough that I finally sat down to write it. I think I had way too much fun with all the other characters, which is probably what contributed to its length.

Oh, and this isn't the whole fic. Not really wanting to get my fic removed from here, I cut it off before it got too racy. You can go read the entire thing over on my lj-account.

basil-ovelby. livejournal. com/ 5718. html

(you'll obviously want to remove the spaces)

So anyway, I now move on to obvious disclaimer where I spout off how I own none of these characters and that they all belong to Nintendo (and Sega, since I do mention Sonic).

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Readjustment

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Wolf gave a small snort as the bus he was in went over a bump, knocking him out of his slumber. He grumbled, annoyed at being pulled roughly out of his dream world. He opened his eyes a bit groggily, taking in his surroundings.

Not much had changed since he'd fallen asleep: still the same rolling hills gliding past the window, the sun still shining brightly through the thin layer of clouds, and still the same grungy old bus seat that he'd had his feet propped up on earlier. The ache in his rear, however, was new, and he had to reposition himself accordingly. Obviously, he'd been asleep for some time.

He brought his hand up to scratch at his head while he lowered his feet, sitting up straight in the seat. He gave a small yawn.

"Mr. O'Donnell?"

Had he not still been dazed from his nap, he might have gave a slight yelp, but under the circumstances, he merely felt his heart jump up in his chest as a head popped around the side of his seat.

"Holy shit, Link. You almost gave me a heart attack!" He felt his shoulders relax from the unexpected rise in tension.

The owner of the head gave a bit of a frown, biting his lip. "I'm sorry..." He moved until he was now standing by the seat, looking down at the ground. "I just noticed that you woke up, is all."

Wolf sighed. "No, no, it's fine. You just surprised me."

This brought a smile back to the boy's face as he began tilting back and forth on his feet. "Jigglypuff thinks we're almost there."

"... you can understand that thing?"

Link looked a bit sheepishly. "Well... no, not really." He gave a laugh. "But I'm pretty sure that's what she's trying to say."

As if on cue, the said pink puffball dropped down from the back of the seat, landing in Wolf's lap with a plop.

This time, Wolf actually did give a yelp, good eye opening wide in surprise.

"Jigglypuff!"

Link gestured with his hand, leaning forward on the seat. "See? Look, look!"

Jigglypuff held up her arms and began jumping up and down excitedly before puffing out her cheeks. "Jiggly, jiggly!"

Wolf just stared.

"I'm almost positive that's what she's saying!"

Wolf had no idea how Link had come to that conclusion. The only things Wolf could make out of the blather were that she was either hyped up on way too much sugar or had a serious case of constipation.

By this time, Link had gotten up onto the bus seat as well and was pulling excitedly on Wolf's vest.

"Aren't you excited, Mr. O'Donnell? We're really almost there!"

Wolf ran a hand over the fur on his head. "Yeah, sure, kid. Real excited." Jigglypuff was still squeaking happily as she bounced around on his lap.

"I'll get to see my other self! And... and Zelda. And Ganondorf. Well, I don't really want to see him... but there'll be lots of other people to meet, and maybe even some kids my own age, and..." He continued rambling.

Wolf wasn't really listening anymore, merely attempting to push Jigglypuff off of his lap. Just when he thought he'd succeeded, however, the puffball simply rolled back on, burrowing herself into his chest before seemingly falling asleep.

"... and maybe Link will even train me some! It'll be so fun – I can't wait! Are you excited too? You'll get to see your friends, won't you?"

Wolf turned his attention away from Jigglypuff. "Friends?"

Link cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, Fox and Falco."

Wolf grimaced a bit. "Yeah... friends." He turned his head to look out the window. Doing this, however, he didn't notice as the small boy got on his knees and leaned over towards his face.

"Aren't they your friends?"

Wolf turned to answer only to find Link's face right in front of his own. "Gah! Link, don't_ do_ that!"

Link giggled, backing away a bit. He kept his eyes fixed on the canine's face.

"It's... it's a bit more complicated than that." He got an uncomfortable feeling in his gut as he thought about the meeting that would certainly be occurring soon. He knew that the two Star Fox pilots weren't going to be overjoyed at his appearance... hell, he'd be lucky if no sort of fight broke out! And that wasn't even taking into account the strange soft spot he'd developed for the canine leader that always left him feeling flustered, causing him to lash out with words he didn't really mean.

Oh, it was going to be a great reunion.

"Complicated?" Link looked at him imploringly.

Wolf sighed. "You wouldn't understand, kid."

"Heeey... I'm not that young! I understand lots of things!" The boy's face was now scrunched into a scowl.

Wolf merely chuckled, bringing his hand up to ruffle the tuft of hair sticking out of his hat. "Well, then maybe I'll tell you later."

Link's frown quickly disappeared as he smiled up at him.

"But if you were right about what our pink friend was saying, then we should start getting our things ready."

Link's ears perked up as he sat up straight. "Good idea! I'll get Jigglypuff and I's bags." He was off the seat in a flash and soon out of sight behind the seat.

Now all Wolf had to do was wake up the sleeping puffball in his lap. "Hey... you. Wake up." He tapped Jigglypuff on her head, however, he received no response. "Jigglypuff, we're almost there!"

There was a loud screeching noise, and suddenly Wolf felt the bus slow down, coming to a rather quick halt. A bit surprised, he turned his attention to the window, where he saw that they had, in fact, made it. He hadn't even noticed as they'd pulled up to the large mansion that would be their home for the next couple of months.

"Wow, when you say almost there, you mean it!" He said this to the still sleeping puffball.

There was a thud to his left, and Wolf turned to find Link dragging two bags across the floor of the bus. "I got the bags!"

"Well, that's good... but can you wake up Sleepy Beauty, here?"

Link raised his arms into the air. "Jigglypuff, wake up! We're here, we're here!"

As if by magic, Jigglypuff's eyes opened wide, staring straight into Wolf's face. "Jigglypuff!" She began jumping up and down as well before jumping off his lap and into the bus aisle.

Wolf gave an exasperated look as he stood up himself, stretching his legs from the long ride. He reached under his seat and pulled out the duffel bag he'd brought with him, following the two in front of him.

"Hurry, hurry, Mr. O'Donnell!" Link grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the front of the bus, barely able to contain his excitement. Wolf could only chuckle to himself as he let himself be tugged, trying to keep up with the small boy and Pokemon.

"_Kids..."_

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"Falcoooo-!"

He was whining again, but he couldn't help it. This was the third time he'd called the blue bird, who didn't seem to be hearing him at all. Or at least he wasn't responding.

He stomped across the patio until he arrived at the deck chair his friend was sunning himself in. "I know you can hear me!"

Falco didn't move at first, finally tilting his head towards the fox slightly, bringing his hand up to lower his sunglasses. "What was that? I'm sorry, my ears can't register that whining tone of voice."

Fox wanted to tear his fur out. "Oh, hardy har har. Falco, are you coming or not?"

Falco turned his gaze back out toward the swimming pool that constituted most of the patio. "I don't know, I'm pretty comfortable right here... what were we going to do again?"

Resting a hand on his hip, Fox brought his other hand up to rub between his eyes. "We were _going_ to go welcome the last set of newcomers to the mansion, Mr. Selective Memory. You know, only what everyone's been talking about constantly the last couple of days?"

Falco raised an eyebrow. "That's today?"

"Um, yeah, last time I checked. I reminded you last night, didn't I?"

"Hmmm..." Falco trailed off, turning away from Fox. "Well, I suppose I could come."

Fox was thoroughly exasperated now. "If you don't want to come, then don't! But if you are, then could you hurry it up a little?"

Falco sighed, waiting a moment before pushing himself up in the chair. "Alright, alright _darling_. I'm up." He stretched out his legs before righting himself on the stone, patio floor.

"Oh, ha ha, you're so funny, I forgot to laugh."

"You know you love me." Falco simply grinned as he began heading for the door, Fox in tow. The darkness of the mansion interior almost blinded him for a second, but his eyes soon readjusted, letting the furniture in the hallway slowly come into focus. He pushed his sunglasses up until they were resting above his forehead. "I've gotta go change."

Fox scowled. "What? Why? We're already running late!"

"Because I like to make good impressions, ok? Not that I'm not stunningly attractive in swim trunks and all, but it's not very professional, now, is it?" He poked his finger in Fox's chest.

"Fine, fine, but hurry up, will ya? Everybody went down to the foyer, like, ten minutes ago." He swatted Falco's hand away.

The two started up the nearby staircase leading to the second floor, Fox a bit miffed at how slow Falco was moving. Once at the top, they took a left, walking past two other doors before arriving at the room they shared.

"You know, for a bird, you're pretty damn slow." Fox was leaning in the doorway as Falco began rummaging about the room for the clothes he'd changed out of earlier. The bird sent him a glare, but didn't say anything.

Upon gathering up all his clothing, he quickly changed into them, bringing his hand up to smooth out the feathers on his head.

"You finally ready, your majesty?" Fox smirked.

"If I'm royalty, then you're my loyal servant. Let's go." Falco gave his shoulder a light shove and the two were back out the door and down the steps. He continued adjusting his jacket as they made their way through the mansion and to the foyer.

Unfortunately, upon reaching said foyer, they were met with an unexpected emptiness.

"...where is everyone?" Falco crossed his arms.

Fox walked to the front door and looked out one of its neighboring windows. "Gah, looks like we're too late. There's no one outside either. Way to go, Falco!"

Falco merely shrugged. "So we missed them first walking in the door – big deal! We'll be living with them for who knows how long... I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted."

"Yeah... but... I was really curious to see who they were." Fox poked his toe at a spot on the floor.

"Then go find them, geez! I'm sure they've got quite the posse of people following them around, they can't be hard to find."

"I guess you've got a point." Fox looked a bit sheepish. "C'mon, then, let's go!" He beckoned towards the hallway leading to the dining room.

Falco raised an eyebrow. "You go ahead and go on your treasure hunt; I'm in no mood for this. I'll just meet them later."

"What? Come _on_, Falco. It won't take that long!" He was whining again.

"Are you incapable of walking around the mansion by yourself?"

"... well, _no_, but..."

"Then I'm leaving." He turned to walk away, but Fox darted forward and grabbed his sleeve.

"_Please? _I promise, it won't take long at all!" He began tugging Falco in the opposite direction.

Falco, in turn, resisted for a few moments, but finally gave in and began walking with the vulpine. "Fine, fine... I swear, sometimes..."

But Fox only laughed, pulling Falco into the hallway and towards the dining room. "It'll be fun! Trust me."

They were just about to walk into the dining room when a small figure rounded the corner, practically running into Fox. With a startled yelp, Fox took a step backwards.

"F-f-fox!"

It was Ness.

"Oh, hey Ness. Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Ness ducked his head, tugging on his hat. "Ah... uh, no... it was m-my fault, I'm sorry..." He trailed off, an awkward silence forming. Finally, the young boy darted off down the hallway, leaving a confused Fox behind.

Fox scratched his head. "He's been acting like that a lot lately, I don't know what's wrong with him." He moved his hands to his hips, eyebrows furrowed.

Falco shot him a disbelieving look. "You don't? God_damn_, Fox, it's pretty obvious. He's totally crushing on you."

Now it was Fox's turn to shoot a disbelieving look. "W-what? How can you... when did... _what?_"

"You must be fairly oblivious to not have figured it out by now. He acts like that every time you're around."

"...really?"

Falco raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Every time."

Fox pondered this a moment, bringing a hand up to cup his chin. "Well, this is certainly news to me. I'm rather at a loss for words. I don't think I've ever been crushed on before." He laughed.

Falco smirked. "Yeah, Mr. Hot-stuff, huh? Attracting all the kiddies."

"H-hey!" Fox shot back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Falco simply laughed. "You gonna go snog him in the back room now?"

The vulpine's ears shot straight up as he tightened his fists. "I... I'm not some kind of pedophile!" His voice got surprisingly loud.

"Um... M-Mr. McCloud?"

Fox instantly froze, his body contorting slightly as he turned in surprise. A pair of innocent eyes gazed up at him from the entrance to the dining room.

"Oh, look, Fox! Another one! Now you can have a threesome!" Falco was practically crying now, he was laughing so hard.

Fox shot Falco a death glare before turning back to the boy. "Uh... h-hi. I don't think we've met..."

The boy continued to look at him, rather confused, but he finally smiled, raising his arm up to shake the Arwing pilot's hand. "I'm Link! I just got here today. I know you two because of Mr. O-" He suddenly stuck his hand over his mouth.

Fox gave him an odd look while Falco finally stopped laughing, straightening himself. "Eh?"

"I mean... er, the others here already told me... about you." He couldn't help but remember what Wolf had said about things being complicated. That probably meant he shouldn't say anything about him, yet.

Fox furrowed his eyebrows, but gave the young boy his hand to shake in response. "Er, ok. It's nice to meet you, Link."

"Wait a minute... Link? Isn't there already a Link here?" Falco smoothed the feathers on his head before straightening his jacket.

Link smiled up in response. "Oh, yeah, that's my other self!"

The two pilots shot each other confused looks. "Other self?" Fox crossed his arms in confusion.

"Uh, yeah, it's kinda hard to explain..." Link scratched his head, looking sheepishly up at the other two. "We're like... from two different periods of time... if that makes any sense."

Neither pilot spoke for a moment.

"Well... I guess I've heard of weirder things."

Fox laughed. "Yeah, you've got a point. This just adds one more thing to the list of bizarre happenings in our life."

"I mean, Foxie over here just found out that he likes little bo-"

Falco didn't finish his last statement because Fox had his arm wrapped around the bird's neck, inducing a strangled gurgle.

"What Falco was _trying_ to say was that it was nice meeting you, Link, and we'll probably be seeing you around the mansion a lot. Right now, however, we have a number of things to do, so you'll have to excuse us." The strained anger was evident in his voice.

"Oh, that's ok, Mr. McCloud. I have to get up to my room anyway. Apparently, I'm sharing with Jigglypuff, so I have to go stake my claim on a bed. But it was real nice meeting you!" And with that, he gave a little skip and was walking down the hallway towards the staircase they'd come from earlier.

After a few moments, Fox finally released Falco, who jerked back with a small squawk.

"My _larynx_. I'll never be able to swallow _again!_"

"Aw, shut up, ya wuss. You brought it upon yourself." Fox had his arms crossed again.

Falco couldn't help but chuckle. "I was just having a little fun, is all."

"Mmhmm, fun. Before we know it, everyone else'll be keeping all the kids away from me, and I'll be sentenced to my room or something." But by this time, he was laughing a bit himself. "Anyways, though, we've already met one of the newcomers. And who was this Jigglypuff he said he was rooming with?"

"That's the weirdest damn name I've ever heard."

"Must be a Pokemon."

Both pilots nodded sagely.

"Weren't there supposed to be three people?"

Fox scratched his chin. "Yeah... I think so. Hmm, but at this rate, I don't know where to look anymore. I'm guessing the rest of the smashers finally left them alone if Link was heading to his room. We might just have to wait until we run into the last person at some point."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Stan."

Falco blinked a few times before shaking his head. "You're such a doofus." And with that, he walked back the way he came, fully intending to head back outside.

"What? Why? Fal_cooooo-!_" He was whining again.

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Wolf had been pushed and shoved every which way, the crowd of people offering him welcome and words of encouragement seeming around him. When they'd finally left him to his own devices, his head was positively spinning and he desperately needed to just sit down somewhere, so he'd gone to the room he'd been given and collected his thoughts.

Fortunately for him, he'd been the odd man out, and was thus able to have his own room. It was a pleasant surprise as he'd expected to be paired with someone, and he was almost sure they would have stuck him with either Fox or Falco on the precedence that they were 'friends'. It was a spacious enough room, so sharing wouldn't have been horrible, but he could only guess what kind of troubles he'd have run into sharing with those two.

He sighed. He was amazed there hadn't been a confrontation yet. For some reason, neither of them was in the welcoming party, even though every other member of the household was there. Although, now he was a bit worried as to what situation he'd be in when he _did _run into them... at least if they'd been there, that whole mess would have been over already.

There wasn't much he could do about it though...

He continued sitting there for a while before he decided that he should probably be unpacking his stuff, so he clambered over to one of the beds where he'd tossed his duffel bag and began pulling out his things. It didn't take him long. He only had about three changes of clothes and then his shower stuff and things of that nature. They'd told him to pack fairly light.

He took the small piles of clothes over to one of the dressers and opened the top door, setting them down in the empty space. They looked so lonely all by themselves. The enormous dresser easily dwarfed them.

Looking past the dresser, he noticed a set of curtains covering the one window in the room and decided to see what was outside. He flicked open one of the curtains, holding it back so he could see.

The view from his window opened out onto a rather vast forest that spread out behind the mansion. He couldn't see straight below him, but he could see that some sort of patio came out from the back, and he could see the edge of a swimming pool as well.

_Nice..._

The sun, at this point, was already a bit low in the sky, creating an orange glow over everything. He wondered how long that bus ride had been. They'd left just a short while after lunch, and now it was...

What time _was_ it?

He turned around, looking about the room for a clock. The red numbers on the digital clock near one of the beds caught his attention. 6:20. That late already?

He idly scratched one of his ears. It hadn't seemed that late when he'd first arrived.

With a small shrug, he decided to head back out into the rest of the mansion and take a look around. His welcoming party, Peach leading the way, had given him a quick tour of the kitchen and dining rooms as well as the main living room and the stairs leading to the basement rec room, but this was a huge mansion, meaning there were quite a number of rooms he didn't know of yet. With that thought, he opened the door to his room and set off.

Most of the rooms on this floor, if not all, appeared to be bedrooms. Given that he didn't really want to invade anyone's privacy, he decided to head downstairs to explore.

On the way down, he encountered a man in a blue racing suit coming up the stairs.

"Ah, fellow smasher, Wolf. Are you enjoying your new living quarters?"

Wolf cocked an eyebrow. He didn't... quite... remember this guy.

"Douglas Jay Falcon's the name." He thrust out his hand towards the lupine, who took it a bit cautiously. The man leaned forward a bit at this, stage whispering. "But the ladies around here just call me the Captain."

"You wish, Falcon." Wolf turned at the sound of the new voice and saw a blonde woman in a tight blue suit coming up the stairs.

Falcon immediately fixed his attention on the newcomer. "Ah, the beautiful Samus. Might I accompany you on your arduous jaunt up the stairs?"

Samus kept walking, barely even looking at him. "The only thing arduous about it, is the fact that I have to see you."

"Your cold words hurt, but I can see past that chilly exterior." He was following her now, Wolf completely forgotten.

He continued to listen to them spout back and forth as he watched them up the stairs. After a moment or two, he continued his own walk down. Why was everyone here so strange?

Upon reaching the bottom, Wolf couldn't decide which way to go. He'd originally come from the left, and if his memory served him correctly, then that led back to the foyer, followed by the dining room and kitchen. He looked to the right down another hallway, and could see a few chairs beyond the open doorway at the end. That must lead to the main living room... it all seemed to circle around.

He finally decided to head off in that direction, but just as he was about to take a step, a flash of brown fur leapt across his vision, and suddenly a small monkey was in his arms.

"Gah!" He almost dropped the monkey in his surprise. "Cripes, what is _with_ people here?"

But the monkey didn't say anything. He was keeping himself curled in towards his chest and kept glancing around nervously, as if hiding from something.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Wolf couldn't hide his annoyance.

Before the monkey could reply, however, Wolf felt something land on his head with an enormous force, knocking him face-forward into the ground. The monkey leapt out of his arms in order to escape, but he was too late. A round pink ball had latched onto his front.

Picking himself up off the floor, Wolf growled a few expletives under his breath.

"Looks like he found him again." Another voice came from behind him, and the sound of footsteps approached on the hard-wood floor. A winged brunette came into his sight as he slowly got to his feet. "Apparently, he's not safe anywhere, anymore."

Wolf followed the angel's eyes towards where the pink ball was still clinging to the monkey like a baby to its mother. "Eh?"

"Kirby, let Diddy go."

It took a second, but from the pink ball, Wolf finally saw two big eyes slowly peek out from behind his arms, and then he slowly pulled away. He had a huge smile on his face, however. Diddy, in turn, backed a few steps away, jabbering angrily.

The angel boy was laughing now, watching the action unfold. Wolf didn't even know what to say. He had no idea what Diddy was saying, or even what was going on. He also couldn't help but cringe a bit when he realized there were now _two _pink puff balls to annoy the hell out of him.

"Wolf, right?"

He turned when he realized the angel boy was talking to him, giving a nod.

"I'm Pit. I was there when you came, but we never really got to meet."

"Heh, same with pretty much everyone else. I can barely remember anyone's name after all that."

Pit smoothed a bit of his hair behind his ear, giving a laugh. "Yeah, I had a horrible time when I first got here... and I was one of the first ones! I can only imagine how you must feel."

"It's all kind of a blur, really." Wolf gave him a rather pathetic smile.

"I'm sure you'll be into the swing of things in no time. Everyone here's pretty welcoming... some a little more than others." He gestured towards Kirby, who was beginning to creep towards Diddy again.

There was a moment of silence, Wolf watching the two smaller creatures in front of him with an eyebrow raised.

"Anyways, I was just heading into the living room... poker game's about to start. I'm sure you're welcome to join." Pit was starting to walk down the hallway.

Wolf followed him. "I've never been great at cards... maybe I'll just watch."

The two walked down the hallway and soon found themselves in the cozy living room. There were chairs around most of the edges, and a large coffee table in the middle, which was currently where a number of people were gathered around. Glancing about, Wolf saw a number of others in a few of the chairs.

"Hey guys, I found a stray." Pit laughed at his own joke as he made his way to the coffee table to join the others. A few heads turned to look over at where Wolf was awkwardly following.

"Oh, hey Wolf." There were a number of other greetings and Wolf simply nodded in acknowledgement. He wasn't quite sure what to do: Pit had taken the last open spot. He ended up just standing behind the brunette, trying to look less awkward than he felt.

"I've been waiting for this all day. Let's hurry it up." Ganondorf was seated almost directly across from them, clenching and unclenching his hands. Beside him, a worried-looking Luigi sat, scratching the top of his nose.

"Indeed, I must say that this is the highlight of my day." A small masked ball that Wolf didn't recognize right away sat on the other side of Ganondorf, and next to him was a large penguin wearing a red robe.

"Alright, alright, guys. Ike, you've got the cards?" Pit turned to the blue-haired man next to him.

"As always." Ike placed the cards in the middle of the table.

There was a giggle off to the side, and Wolf glanced over to find Peach sitting on one of the couches, watching them. Another woman with braided, brown hair sat next to her, quite interested in the coming game as well.

"I'm feeling really good about the first round. What say I deal?" Ganondorf reached forward to grab the cards before anyone could even answer, but there were no protests. He began shuffling the cards in his giant hands. Wolf was a bit amazed that he had such dexterity.

"Wolf, do you play cards?" He turned towards the sound of the voice to find the masked ball looking up at him.

"Me? Ahaha, no, not really. Never been good at 'em." He waved his hands in front of him.

But the masked ball didn't say anything in return, and after a moment, he motioned for him to come closer with his hand. Not sure what to do at first, Wolf finally began picking his way past the others at the table until he was next to the tiny knight, kneeling down.

"You can play with me."

"...eh? But, I don't really need t-"

"All masters started once as apprentices." The masked ball's eyes glowed up at him, and Wolf couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated, immediately sitting down beside him without a word.

"Alright, are you babies ready to get taken _down?_" Ganondorf chuckled to himself, obviously having found his own commentary quite witty. He then started dealing out two cards to each player.

Wolf sat a bit nervously, watching the cards slide past him with his good eye. A sudden prickling on the back of his neck caused him to quickly turn to his left, where he was met with a giant penguin face right in front of his own.

"No lookin' at my cards, you got that?"

Wolf instinctively felt himself hunch down on himself at the penguin's fierce glare.

"Dedede, I don't need to stoop to actions of that nature in order to beat you." The masked ball didn't even look at the penguin, slowly picking up his cards.

"Hah, you just got lucky last time!" Wolf had to duck as Dedede brought his hand up to point at the knight. "And I still don't think it's fair for you to wear that damn mask while we play."

"I'm not going to change my everyday attire simply to satiate your own desires."

Dedede was now grumbling under his breath, but he finally turned back to his own cards.

As the game began, the masked ball (whom Wolf soon discovered was named Meta Knight) started going over some of the rules to him, showing him his cards and the moves that he was making. It took a little while for Wolf to fully start understanding some of the rules, but he was slowly getting used to it. There were a number of more rules than the random games he'd played with Leon and Panther whenever they'd had some off-time.

"These toys are too much for you!" Ganondorf laughed almost evilly as he reached his hand out to secure the pot for himself.

"That's the second time in a row!" Luigi watched the money disappear sullenly. He gave a heavy sigh. None of the other players around the table seemed too happy about it either, but the cards were soon gathered up again, ready to be dealt.

"You just can't beat this skill." The Gerudo man was punching his hands together in celebration. Wolf couldn't help but think how hilarious the man looked.

Meta Knight turned to Wolf. "Did you understand what happened that time?"

"... yeah, I think so." Wolf furrowed his eyebrows. "It still takes me a little while, though."

He shifted suddenly when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see Peach standing up from the couch. "Oh dear... I need, I need to go see Mario about something."

She quickly hurried off.

Well, now, that was just strange. Wolf turned back to Meta Knight, but for the life of him, he couldn't tell what the small warrior was thinking due to the large mask. The table grew rather silent, even the shuffling of cards stopping. Both Ike and Pit appeared a bit tense, while Ganondorf looked like he was trying to hold back laughter.

Wolf was really beginning to wonder what was going on, when after a few more moments, the other woman on the couch stood up as well.

"I just remembered that Link wanted to see me!" She was off in a flash as well.

The silence continued for a short while longer, until everyone at the table was sure the ladies were out of earshot, and then Ganondorf burst into laughter, quickly starting everyone else into fits as well.

Wolf looked about him in confusion.

"How long did it take tonight?" Pit asked, tears threatening to leak out of his eyes.

"Just forty-five minutes... that might be a new record." Luigi was doubled over.

Wolf wasn't really sure he _wanted_ to know what was going on anymore.

"Maybe we should start betting on that, instead." Ganondorf was wiping at his eyes.

After a few minutes, the laughter began to settle down. Wolf really wanted to ask what exactly they were laughing about, but he felt slightly out of place, and he was pretty sure they already thought him a bit slow at not knowing how to play poker. He didn't want to be known as the oblivious one for the rest of his stay here.

Dedede was the last one to finish chuckling as he went to pick up his cards, when all of a sudden, he sat up straight. "Wait, did you say forty-five minutes? Damn!"

Everyone looked about them in confusion.

"I gotta split guys – keep playing without me."

And with that, he stood up and waddled quickly off. Wolf watched his shape disappear down the hallway.

The table was quiet again. It seemed rather empty now that one of its biggest members was gone.

Meta Knight was the first to speak up. "It _is _Wednesday."

There was a series of sage nodding from the other poker players. "I'd completely forgotten about it, as well." Ike was scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Wolf looked about from person to person. "Wait, Wednesday... what?"

Meta Knight turned to him. "His snail comes up on Wednesday nights."

This only confused Wolf even more. Snail?

"I've always thought it was odd myself, but I don't ask questions." Ganondorf was muttering to himself.

Pit cocked his head to the side. "Really? I think it's cute."

"It _is _a long way to travel once a week." Luigi mused to himself.

Wolf felt completely out of it, like everyone was in on some big joke except for him. Except that joke included everything about everyone in the mansion, and he was completely clueless.

It was going to take a while for him to really adjust in this place.

"Well, anyway, back to the game, boys?" Ganondorf was picking up the cards again.

There was a murmur of agreement from everyone else. Wolf, however, felt a rumble come from his stomach, and realized that he hadn't eaten anything for quite some time.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna have to pass. I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat."

Meta Knight watched him as he stood up. "Feel free to join us anytime. Remember, you, too, can become a great poker player."

Wolf cocked an eyebrow. He couldn't help but think the knight's regal tone was a bit strange.

"Only you can prevent forest fires." This came from Ganondorf once again, followed by stifled laughter, causing some of the others to start laughing as well.

Meta Knight turned to glare at them. "That wasn't appreciated."

"That wasn't appreciated." Ganondorf repeated in a rather high-pitched voice.

Wolf could almost feel the anger radiating off of Meta Knight, so he decided that now was a good time to duck out. After quickly making his way across the room to the other hallway, he let himself slow down to a casual walking pace.

He gave a small sigh as he continued walking. Though it had been nice to get to know some more of the people here, he still felt like an outsider. How long had they all been here? Getting to know each other? And now here he was, knowing practically no one and expecting to fit right in.

He was almost beginning to wonder if he should have rejected the invitation. Neither Leon nor Panther had been too pleased with his leaving, and then there was the whole Fox thing he had to deal with now... but for some reason, it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Plus, he couldn't lie that he felt a bit proud at the fact that he'd been chosen to participate in the tournament.

When he reached the end of the hallway, he found himself back in the main foyer. He looked around him at the high wooden ceiling. He hadn't really been able to see much when he'd first come in – there'd been far too many people crowding around them. Now that it was basically empty, however, he noticed how nice the trimmings were. There was even a large fireplace in the middle of the back wall with a few chairs situated around it.

While he was looking around, he also noticed a swinging, wooden door that he hadn't noticed before in the opposite wall. He could hear some music coming from behind it and became quite curious. Upon walking over there, he found a chalkboard sign outside that read "The Gallery".

Strange...

Still quite curious, however, he pushed the door open and stepped into the room, finding himself in a lounge of some sort. The lights were dimmer and there were a number of couches situated throughout the room. A bar took up most of the left wall, and he could see glasses hanging from the shelves above it. It was quite the fancy little shindig.

There were a few people on the couches further back, and one sitting at the bar. He made his way further into the lounge, continuing to take in his surroundings.

Not really looking at where he was going, he almost tripped over one of the nearby couches, instinctively taking a step back. He then noticed that the couch was, in fact, occupied.

A strange-looking white cat was staring at him from over the top of the book he was reading. He had a rather menacing glare, though Wolf couldn't tell if it was because he was truly angry, or if his face was simply always that fierce looking.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just part of the furniture."

Wolf gave a small grimace. "...er, sorry. I didn't see you."

The creature's eyes narrowed a bit. "Obviously." Wolf instinctively gulped, a nervous feeling overtaking him. He glanced over the creature's body and noticed that some sort of blue hedgehog was also on the couch, his head lying in the other's lap as he slept peacefully.

"Aw, don't worry about Mewtwo. He's not even supposed to be here!" There was a voice from beside him, and he quickly turned to find a tunic-clad man standing near him. "He's still a little pissed." He whispered this last part to Wolf, though not at all quietly.

Wolf gave a rather bemused expression, wracking his mind to try and remember the newcomer's name.

"Link! You're Link... right?"

The other man leaned forward so that his face was practically touching Wolf's. He was wobbling on his feet. "You know me from somewhere?"

Wolf raised his hands up to push Link away. Obviously, the other man had had one too many drinks. "We met... earlier."

Link's face changed as he attempted to remember as well. "Really...? I can't... seem to recall..." And with that, he fell forward towards Wolf, who barely had time to catch him before he crashed to the floor.

"Jesus Christ, how long have you been drinking?" Wolf struggled to stand up while still holding the other man up as well as he could.

Link was merely staring up at him, a rather goofy grin on his face. "If you liked me this much, all you had to do was ask..."

Wolf ignored this comment and dragged the intoxicated Hylian over to one of the couches, pushing him up until his entire body was sprawled across it. Upon succeeding, he stood up, running a hand over the fur on his head.

"Nooo... don't leave..." Link was stretching out his arm, but Wolf quickly backed away, definitely _not _in the mood to deal with the drunken man anymore. Shaking his head a bit, he walked back over to the bar and took a seat, now the only one seated there.

He glanced around at the rows of alcohol lined up on the shelves. They had quite the selection here. Wolf was impressed. He was just beginning to wonder if there was a bartender or not, when what looked like a black drawing made its way into his field of vision.

He stared for a second, not really sure what he was looking at. Surely... this... wasn't a person?

The black drawing was staring back at him, and suddenly, Wolf felt quite rude.

"...er, hello?"

The black drawing cocked his head. Well, Wolf assumed that was his head. It was the large round part at the top of his torso.

"Are you... the bartender?" Wolf couldn't believe he was doing this.

The drawing pointed to the vest he was wearing. There was a square nametag there that Wolf hadn't noticed before with the words Game & Watch written on it.

"Game & Watch?"

The drawing nodded again before gesturing towards the rest of the bar with his arms.

"This is your bar?"

Another nod. It took a second before Wolf wondered how exactly he'd gathered that from the drawing's movements, but decided not to worry about it.

"Quite the place you've got here... it's nice."

Game & Watch turned his head to the side, flipping his hand out in an embarrassed manner, a small beep resounding from his mouth.

Wolf was glancing around again. "Hmm... well, I guess... just give me whatever's on tap. I'm not in the mood for anything too fancy tonight."

There was a nod from Game & Watch and he walked a few steps away, reaching across a series of shot glasses to procure a mug. It didn't take long for him to come back with it full, and he soon placed it in front of Wolf.

"Thanks."

Another nod from the drawing.

Wolf took the mug and began gulping down the beer. It had been some time since he'd really drunk anything – it wasn't exactly wise to be intoxicated while piloting a Wolfen – so he immediately brightened. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

It didn't take him long to finish off the mug, and he set it back on the counter with a small thud. He noticed Game & Watch still watching him from off to the side.

"So... you here for the tournament too?"

He nodded.

"S'crazy, isn't it? All these people from all over the world. Like... I seriously have _no_ idea where you're from."

Game & Watch began making some strange movements with his arms before magically procuring a frying pan out of nowhere and tossing a few strips of black bacon into the air.

"Oh, really? I would never have guessed."

The drawing shrugged before motioning towards Wolf's empty mug.

"Oh, sure. I could use another one."

Game & Watch took the mug away, and before Wolf could even register his being gone, he was back with it full.

"Wow, that was fast. How long you been doing this?" He raised the mug to his muzzle.

The drawing looked up in the air thoughtfully, bringing his hand up to rub underneath his nose. Finally, he held up a sign with the number seven on it.

"Seven years, eh? Well, I guess that would explain your skill." Wolf trailed off, gazing out in front of him as he took another sip of his beer. "Take you long to get adjusted here?"

Game & Watch made a large motion with his arms before bringing them together.

This caused Wolf to laugh. "Same here, same here. Some of the people here are a bit strange."

This was met with an exaggerated swing of the drawing's head, his hand moving up and down.

"You don't have to tell me!" Wolf was almost finished with the mug already. "I haven't even met everyone and I'm already weirded out of my skull!"

Game & Watch made a few quick movements before shooting puffs of air up above him with some kind of air puffer.

"They tried to replace you? That's horrible!"

The drawing nodded sagely before making what appeared to be a rude gesture.

"Some kind of robot, eh?" Wolf shook his head in disdain before finishing off his beer once again. "Well, that's just a crying shame..."

Game & Watch once more gestured to his mug, which caused Wolf to hold it out towards him gladly. "Fill 'er up, my good man. I have a feeling this is gonna be a long night."

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"Guess who!"

"Oh, I don't know... the same annoying fox who's been bothering me for the last two hours?"

"Damn, you're good." Fox removed his hands from the bird's eyes, taking a step back.

"I'm not sure if you're joking or if you're really just that dumb, but I'm hoping for the former." Falco looked up from the book he was reading.

"I kid, I kid."

Falco gave an annoyed sigh and returned to his book. Fox was pacing about the room, his hands behind his back.

"C'mon, Falco. Let's go do something. We can head down to the bar or something... I just wanna get out of this room."

Resting his head back against the chair, Falco rolled his eyes. "You can do things without me, you know. Just because we're roommates doesn't mean we're chained to each other. Why don't you go find somebody else to bother."

Fox grinned. "Nobody's as fun to bother as you."

This caused Falco to idly massage the area between his eyes. "Alright, alright... if I go have a drink with you, will you leave me alone for the rest of the night?"

Fox stuck his hand out in a thumbs-up. "Of course!"

The bird begrudgingly got to his feet, placing his book down on the nearby bed. He took a few steps towards Fox before stopping, giving the vulpine an incredulous look. "Well, are we going or not?"

"Oh, right." Fox laughed, starting towards the door. The two made their way to the staircase in silence and started down it, Fox patting his hand on the railing to a rhythm only he could hear.

"So, have you run into the last new person yet?"

Fox turned to look at the bird. "No, not yet. You?"

Falco shook his head in response. "No... but then again, I haven't been out of my room much since then."

"Maybe we can ask around once we get to the bar."

"I hope that damn cat isn't there." Falco grimaced.

"Wasn't he supposed to leave some time ago?"

Falco shrugged.

They made their way across the foyer towards the door to the Gallery, Fox watching his reflection in the shiny wood surface. "I can't decide what I want tonight... there's always too many choices." He grinned.

Upon reaching the door, Fox made a big show of gesturing towards it. "After you, good sir."

"Oh, you're too kind," Falco replied sarcastically, before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Before immediately stepping back out.

Fox gave him a strange look. "What was that for?"

Falco looked towards Fox in disbelief. "I think I just found the last newcomer."

"R-really?" The vulpine's eye lit up, obviously excited.

Wordlessly, Falco nodded, pointing towards the door. Fox approached cautiously, put off a bit by Falco's reaction. He stood up on his toes so he could see over the top of the door. He strained his eyes to see in the darker room.

Upon catching sight of said newcomer, Fox's face instantly turned beet red, and he turned back towards Falco. "It's W-Wolf!"

"I know! Can you believe it? That's the last person... I..." His eyebrows furrowed. "Wait a second, what was that look for?"

"What look?"

"Why'd you go all red?"

Fox felt the blood rush to his face yet again. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"There, you're doing it again!" Falco pointed towards his friend's face.

Fox did his best to calm himself down, bringing his hands to his hips in a gesture he hoped would look confident. "You clearly must be delusional, Falco. I had no such look."

But Falco wasn't even listening anymore. In fact, he was chuckling under his breath. "Holy shit, you like him, don't you?"

This, of course, only caused Fox face to go red again. "N-no!"

"You do! I can_ so_ _tell_!"

"Falco, we friggin' hate each other! I do _not_ like him." Fox was becoming a bit angry, crossing his arms in frustration.

"Don't even give me that. You're so damn obvious to read." Falco couldn't stop his laughter now.

Fox was just about to step forward and wring his friend's neck when the bird's head shot up suddenly, clearly enlightened by something.

"I'll go talk to him for you."

Fox instantly tensed. "_What?_ Falco, don't you _dare!_"

"No, it's perfect. Soften him up, get a few drinks in him... he'll be all yours, buddy."

Fox felt like he was going to die, his face burning. "F-f-falco! Don't even _think_ it!"

But Falco was too excited by his plan, already starting for the door. "Trust me. Everything'll be fine."

The vulpine darted forward, hoping to catch him before he made it through, but he was too late. "_Falco!_" He hissed, but the bird was gone. He wrung his hands nervously, pacing back and forth in front of the door. He couldn't believe this was happening. Not now. Not here. His breath was catching in his chest.

Meanwhile, Falco was making his way casually towards the bar, doing his best not to draw attention to himself. He didn't have a hard time, however, as Wolf seemed to be deep in conversation with the bartender, a beer already in his hand. Sauntering over, he quietly came up behind the lupine. Having still not been noticed, he took the seat next to him, letting his arm drape over the other's shoulders.

"Hey, GW, get me a tall one. And why don't you get another one for my friend as well – he seems to be out." He gestured towards Wolf's now empty mug.

Wolf turned towards him in surprise, his already shocked face turning to pure fear upon seeing who it was that was now seated next to him. "Falco!"

"Heeey, Wolf. Long time no see."

Wolf's eyes darted from side to side, obviously searching for someone. "Is F-fox here?"

Holy shit, this was going to be even easier than he thought it would be. Falco could barely keep from grinning wildly.

"Nah, he's up doing something in his room. Not really sure. Why?" Falco reached forward to take the mug being offered him from Game & Watch.

Wolf lowered his eyes to the counter. "N... no reason. I was just wondering." He was having a hard time keeping the heat from rising to his face due to the alcohol he'd already drunk. In fact, the combination of both the alcohol and the sudden appearance of the blue bird were making it hard for him to do much of anything at the moment.

Falco leisurely took a swig from his mug. "So... you're really the last one to enter the tournament, eh? Quite a surprise."

Wolf grabbed the beer that had been put down in front of him. "Yeah, it was for me too." Good, steer the conversation away from Fox. This was a safe topic. "I wasn't expecting the invite at all."

"Should prove quite interesting. I'm really getting excited for it to start." Falco mused, carefully studying Wolf's reactions.

The lupine grinned a bit sheepishly. "I'm still just trying to get used to living here... I've been trying to fit in... s'bit hard..." He trailed off, seemingly having forgotten what he was talking about.

"It is a bit weird at first," Falco agreed. "Fox had to introduce me to everyone... and it was a bit strange to simply live in the same place as so many different people. But as long as you're open-minded, you'll fit in pretty quick." He glanced over towards Wolf, idly swirling his beer. "You know, Fox has been talkin' about you."

_Bingo_, Falco thought to himself as he saw Wolf instantly tense up.

"R-really? That's interesting..." Wolf did his best to act disinterested, bringing the mug to his muzzle to help hide his expression.

"Yup, talkin' about you a lot." Falco wanted to laugh so badly, but he did his best to keep his face straight. "The other night he was going on and on about the time you saved him from the aparoids in Corneria... apparently, he's really appreciative."

Wolf laughed nervously. "Is that right?"

Falco simply nodded. He noticed that Wolf was already halfway through his beer. "He's also mentioned how lonely he's gotten out here..."

At this, Wolf almost spit out his beer, having to bring a hand up to his mouth. Upon finally swallowing it, he let out a cough he'd been doing his best to suppress. He could feel heat rising to his face. Falco couldn't stop the grin that escaped. This was turning out even better than he'd planned, and far easier, to boot. Who'd have thunk that the esteemed Star Wolf leader would actually have been harboring feelings of his own? It was almost too good to be true.

Now the only question was how he was going to get him and Fox together. He looked over the lupine... he was obviously well past being simply drunk. It wouldn't take much coaxing to get him to their bedroom, so long as he could walk decently. But would Fox go along with it? He could read his friend's feelings like an open book, but he also knew that he had a tendency to deny them.

He'd have to give him no choice.

Turning his attention back to Wolf, he noticed that the beer was entirely gone now. "Say, are you gonna be able to make it back to your room alright? I'm only going to assume that you've had more than a few of those by now."

Wolf waved him off. "Oh, I'll be fine, I'll be fine." As if to prove his point, he attempted to dismount his chair, almost falling over in the process.

Falco was off his own chair in an instant, catching his drinking-mate before he could fall anymore. "Ahaha, you sure about that?"

Wolf was still for a moment, trying to regain his balance. "I just have to... to..." He tried to take a step and ended up falling back against Falco, who in turn, gripped him firmly under his arm to keep him upright.

"Alright, bucko. Let's get you upstairs."

"No... I was... talking..."

Falco shook off Wolf's comment and started dragging him towards the door. "You've had quite enough for tonight." It wasn't as hard to keep him upright as he first though – the wolf was surprisingly light.

When they'd finally made it back to the door, Falco leaned into it with his shoulder in order to open it, pulling Wolf along behind him. He quickly looked around, finding the exact person he was looking for not far from where he'd left him.

"Oh, Fooox... what a surprise!"

Fox's eyes opened wide in surprise as Falco came through the door. Taking full advantage of this, Falco pulled Wolf from his position behind him, pushing him forward towards the shocked vulpine.

"I wasn't expecting to see _you_ down here." Falco was grinning like an idiot as he watched Wolf fall forward into Fox's arms.

"W-W-Wolf!" Fox's face had immediately gone red as the dazed wolf clutched to his chest for support. He was too flustered to even shoot Falco a death glare for putting him in this situation, though the thought did cross his mind.

It took a moment for Wolf's already sluggish mind to register where he was now, but when it did, he instinctively tried to pull himself away. Unfortunately, this simply resulted in him becoming more off-balance, which led Fox to pull him back to keep him from falling.

And Falco watched this all, highly amused. "I think our friend needs to get back to his room. Although..." He scratched his chin almost mockingly. "It might be a bit too much to take him all the way to his own. We should probably just take him to ours."

The expression on Fox's face was priceless. "O-ours?"

"Sure. We should do our best to help him out, shouldn't we? It's only the polite thing to do."

Fox's face became a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "You really are the devil, Falco." Wolf now had his head resting on the fox's shoulder, his hands clutching the other's arm for support.

"All I do, I do for you." He winked at him before beginning to walk across the foyer. "Now, come on, you two. As much as I know you'd love to stay here with your arms all over each other, we should really be moving along."

Fox grumbled something under his breath, before attempting to pull Wolf along behind him, following Falco. The three began walking without too much trouble, though every once in a while, Wolf would slip, causing Fox to have to catch him. A few times he almost brought the vulpine down with him.

Upon making it to the stairs, Falco pondered how they were going to attempt the ascent. He finally decided that Fox would simply have to get Wolf onto his back and piggy-back the way up. It would be a cinch.

Convincing Fox took a short while, however, but with a bit of persuasion, Falco soon had Wolf on the other's back and they were walking up the stairs. So far, this was turning out to be quite the entertaining evening.

Falco opened the door to their room with a bang, flipping on the light switch. "Just lay him on your bed, Fox."

"_My_ bed? Why not yours?"

Falco straightened a few stray feathers that were ruffled on his head. "Oh, trust me. I'm sure he'd rather be on yours."

Fox blushed, looking away. After a few moments, he made his way over to his bed, leaning back to deposit the practically limp wolf onto the sheets. Wolf was looking back at him, his good eye rather droopy. The look caused Fox to feel a definite stirring in his nether regions, so he quickly turned his gaze, returning to Falco.

"Ok, so now I've got a highly intoxicated Wolf on my bed thanks to you. What the hell do I do now?"

Falco smirked, turning away to grab a towel from one of the shelves nearby. "Well, I guess that's up to you to decide. _I_, however, am going to go take a shower."

"W-what? Don't leave me alone with him!" Fox was sweating.

Falco gave him a look of mock surprise. "I figured that's what you wanted, Fly-boy." He laughed, slipping off his boots near the door and snatching his shampoo and soap from off the floor.

"Fal_coooo..._"

But he ignored him, opening the door once more and moving to step out. "I'll see you two in a bit." He grinned evilly before shutting the door behind him.

He was feeling quite proud of himself as he made his way to the bathroom, whistling a quirky tune. Sometimes, he was just _on_, and tonight was definitely one of those nights. He slung his towel over his shoulder with extra fervor and was soon in the bathroom, looking around for a free shower.

Only one was in use – he could hear some strange singing coming from the farthest stall that he quickly identified as Wario – so he decided to use the closest one to the door. He'd learned the hard way that it wasn't exactly wise to shower near Wario. He could still remember that smell for weeks.

With a satisfied sigh, he turned the water on, feeling the heat beginning to radiate from it after just a few seconds. It only took him a moment or two to shake out of his clothes, and then he was under the water, smoothing his feathers back.

It felt great. He couldn't help but remind himself once more of how much these showers were an improvement over the ones in the Great Fox. No more tepid, low-pressure water.

He began imagining what could be going on back in the room while he was gone. He grinned to himself, biting his tongue slightly. Oh yes, he was good. Though he had to admit, the entire night had been a bit strange... discovering Wolf as being the last entrant was surprising enough, but then the revelation with Fox...

Falco almost laughed out loud, remembering the look on Fox's face. He couldn't believe how easy the vulpine was to read. How did he hide _anything?_ This made Falco wonder how long he'd been keeping those feelings to himself. When had it started? He thought back to the story he'd told Wolf about Fox talking about him... well, maybe there really was some truth about it. He'd always thought that that encounter on Corneria had been a bit odd. And there were _definitely_ a few things that Fox had kept from him about everything that had gone on.

And then what about the fact that Wolf and his team continued to follow them, helping them out in both their defense against the aparoid missiles _and _the Aparoid Queen herself! Falco almost wondered if he should have seen it sooner. Maybe if he'd paid a bit more attention to the way Fox was acting then. It was a rather hectic time.

He was idly lathering the shampoo through his feathers now, an amused smile gracing his face. No matter how many times he replayed the night, it still caused him to laugh. And yet, he still almost couldn't believe it. Had that all seriously happened? He closed his eyes as he let himself become fully drenched in the water.

He realized with a bit of a start that he might have to find somewhere else to sleep tonight. Hell, he hadn't thought of that. He still had to head back to the room to change and all that, but... yeah, he should probably go somewhere else after that. He could go find Wolf's room. That should work.

He rinsed the last of the soap out of his feathers and reached over to turn off the water, his body becoming rather cold at the sudden loss of warm water. He reached over past the shower curtain to where his towel was hanging and dried himself off in a flurry.

He felt much better now.

Tying the towel around his waist, he emerged from the shower feeling refreshed. He bent down to retrieve his scattered clothes and began walking towards the exit. He could still hear Wario down at the other end of the showers.

The air outside the bathroom was a bit chilly, so he made his way quickly towards his and Fox's room. Upon reaching the door, he quietly pushed the handle down, slowly creaking it open. He would try his best to sneak in and out as fast as he could.

The sight in the room, however, was not quite was he was expecting. Fox was sitting in a chair near the window, looking nervous as hell. Wolf looked like he was about to fall asleep, still lying on the bed, simply staring up at the ceiling.

_What were they doing? Idiots!_

Falco narrowed his eyes. "Fox, what the hell?"

Fox jumped about a foot in the air at the sound of his voice. His hands were clenching the arms of the chair tightly.

With a sharp whump, Falco tossed his clothes on the floor with a bit more force than he'd meant to. "I expected to find you two fucking like rabbits or something, and here I come back to find you in the same positions I left you in!" He had his hands on his hips, staring down harshly at the tense fox.

Fox bit his lip. "F-Falco, I can't. I... I don't know..."

Falco brought his hands to his head, massaging his temples. "Jesus Christ, do I have to do _everything?_" He walked over to the bed and let himself plop onto it, causing the mattress to sink towards him. Quickly crawling over to where Wolf was lying peacefully, he pulled him up to a sitting position, holding him up by his armpits. He was practically cradling him now, holding him face-forward towards Fox.

"Fox. You have a half-dazed Wolf lying ready and waiting on your bed, and you're just _sitting there fretting over yourself._ This is not the kind of opportunity that comes about every day!"

Fox was blushing again. He looked at Wolf, who was simply staring back at him now, looking a bit out of it. The feeling came back, causing a tightness in his pants, and he had to look away. Wolf just looked so... so...

"Fox." Falco's sharp tone of voice quickly got Fox's attention, and he turned back to the blue bird. He was beckoning him with his finger.

A bit hesitantly, Fox got up from the chair and made his way over to the bed. Upon reaching it, Falco reached forward and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him towards them.

"F-Falco!" Fox tried to pull back, but Falco didn't let him.

"Fox. Look at him."

The vulpine did as he was told, looking down at the half-lidded wolf in the bird's arms. It was almost too much. He didn't think he could take too much more of this. Wolf was looking at him...like... like _that... _and...

Fox licked his lips. He was almost visibly shaking now. He moved closer towards Wolf, who was looking innocently up at him.

"...Fox?" Wolf seemed slightly confused.

He could feel the lupine's breath on his face as he got closer. He'd never been so close to him before. This thought alone was causing his heart to beat wildly in his chest.

With an almost gentle tenderness, Fox let his lips connect with Wolf's. At first neither of them did anything more to further the kiss, but soon Fox felt himself pushing for more. It didn't take much, then, for Wolf to begin kissing back with equal fervor.

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So yeah, I'm gonna have to stop it right there...

If you're interested in reading the rest, just go here.

basil-ovelby. livejournal. com/ 5962. html 

Should take you right to the second part of fic, where you can scroll down until you reach where it got cut off. ;P


	2. Epilogue

I had a number of comments suggesting that I write another chapter for this, so I decided that I'd write an epilogue. I must admit that this was far too much fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to those who left me reviews, both on here and on lj. X3

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Readjustment

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-Epilogue-

"Hey, you."

Wolf glanced down towards the bed he was seated on upon hearing the voice. He gave a little smirk, tilting his head. "Hey."

Fox had his legs curled up towards him, arms clutching one of the extra pillows. "S'it morning already?"

"Well, considering the clock just passed ten o'clock five minutes ago, I would say yes." Wolf idly scratched beneath his chin.

Fox's face scrunched up before he made a big show of rolling away from the older canine. "But I'm still tiiiiired…"

At this, Wolf merely sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fox, you can be so _lazy_ sometimes…" He made a small grunt as he hoisted himself towards the vulpine in an attempt to roll him back the other way. Fox, however, took this opportunity to grab Wolf's shoulders and pull him onto the bed, the other responding with a startled yelp.

Wolf immediately took notice of how close their faces were.

"Can't you just give me five more minutes?"

"I don't think I could refuse even if I wanted to."

Fox smirked, raising an eyebrow. "It appears I have the upper-hand again."

Wolf instantly blushed, looking away, which only caused Fox's smirk to grow larger. He reached in to lick across the bridge of the lupine's nose. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed."

Wolf responded in kind, which soon brought them together in a soft kiss.

Upon finishing, both canines laid back down on the pillows, looking up at the ceiling. Fox continued to clutch the one extra pillow to his chest.

After a few minutes, Wolf finally spoke up. "Fox… how did this happen?"

Fox turned his eyes towards his companion, softly chewing on his bottom lip.

"I mean… seriously… we friggin' hate each other."

Both of them were silent for a few moments before Fox spoke up a bit timidly. "I don't hate you…"

Wolf inwardly cursed. "I… I mean, I don't hate you either, it's just… we've never gotten along – how about that?"

Fox idly rubbed his chin. "I guess that's true…"

"And… and I mean, sure I've been questioning how I've felt about you for a while, so it's just been kinda weird, but-"

"Aww, so you were confused?" Fox rolled towards him, letting his body shift closer. "That's so cute."

Wolf became a bit flustered. "W-well, yeah… I mean…"

"I felt the same way!" Fox stretched his arm out above him before draping it around the other's shoulder, nuzzling into his neck.

The older canine sighed a bit in exasperation. "Fox, I'm trying to have a serious conversation."

Fox popped his head up. "Me too. I'm _very_ serious."

Wolf couldn't help but smirk, letting one of his fangs poke out underneath his top lip. "You know, when you act like this, I wonder how I ever let myself get topped by you." He pushed himself up with his elbow until he was straddling the vulpine.

This caused Fox to laugh from beneath him. "Oh, I think it's pretty obvious. Under that tough exterior, you're just a big pushover." He started pushing himself to a sitting position, taking Wolf with him. "Totally…" He pointed one finger into Wolf's chest. "…willing…" He began pushing him backwards into the bed. "…to do whatever I tell you to do." Their positions were now switched, Fox grinning down at him with his eyebrows raised.

Wolf chuckled. "I suppose you've got a bit of a point."

"You know you liiiiike it." Fox leaned down to kiss him again.

Once the kiss was broken, Wolf brought his hands up behind his head, using them as a pillow. "Well, most of it at least."

Fox cocked his head in confusion.

"I'm not too fond of the sore ass."

Fox laughed before reaching behind himself to grab a pillow, playfully bashing Wolf's head with it. "You're such a wuss."

"Oh, _I _am, huh? This coming from Mr. I'm-too-lazy-to-get-out-of-bed-this-morning." He batted back the pillow.

"Oh, shush, you." After one final whump, Fox let himself fall onto the bed next to Wolf, gazing up at the ceiling. Wolf instinctively rolled towards him, stretching his arm across while he snuggled his head against the vulpine's chest.

They lay there contentedly for a few more minutes, Fox watching the dance of the shadows cast from the curtains and Wolf simply smiling, his eyes closed.

Finally, Fox spoke up. "I'm kinda hungry…"

Wolf murmured against him. "Should we go get breakfast?"

"Sure…"

Though neither one moved.

It was another three minutes before Fox spoke up again. "…how did we get on the wrong side of the bed?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Falco was humming happily to himself while he stirred sugar into his coffee. Behind him at the table, Peach, Ganondorf, Lucario and Ness were fairly intent on their own breakfasts, Ganondorf also perusing a section of the newspaper.

Once he felt his coffee was just right, Falco hummed right over to the table, scooting a chair back so he could flop down.

Peach looked up from her eggs, chewing slowly. "You seem awfully chipper this morning, Falco."

"Indeed, especially coming from someone with a tendency to be rather irate anytime before noon." Lucario had just finished up his own plate.

Falco stretched his arms back behind his head, smirking nonchalantly. "I just feel good this morning, is all."

Ganondorf chuckled softly from behind his newspaper before lowering it slightly, gazing over the top. "Methinks the bird got a bit lucky last night, hmm?"

This caused Falco to blush, but he quickly tried to shake it off. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

Ganondorf's grin widened. "Little Nessie here tells me he saw something rather interesting this morning."

At this, _both_ Falco and Ness's faces turned beet red, the former giving an abrupt cough while the latter refused to look up from his plate of pancakes.

"I was… helping a friend, is all…" Falco took a long sip from his coffee.

"Oh, _really…_nothing at all in it for you, eh?"

Memories of the night before came back into Falco's head, increasing the discomfort he was already feeling. Ok, so yeah, he'd enjoyed it. Fox may have been his friend, but he was also pretty _damn_ fine. He could have left, let the two canines do their thing, felt good about the job he'd done, but that obviously hadn't happened.

His coffee was practically gone now, making himself feel even warmer given that he'd drunk it quite a bit too fast.

"No hidden, restrained feelings at all…?"

Falco sputtered, almost spitting out the coffee still in his mouth. Finally, he brought the mug down hard on the table, standing up. "I do _not_ have a thing for Fox, _ok?!_" Still red in the face, he marched quickly out of the room.

The four at the table didn't say anything for a moment. Didn't even move, actually. Ganondorf was the first, raising his paper back up so he could continue reading it.

Peach, however, was the first to break the silence. "So… do you think…?"

"I have a guess, but we won't know for sure until the other two members decide to join us."

Lucario furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait… how will that…" He trailed off for a second before his eyes opened wide in recognition. "_Ohhh_. I see."

The table became silent once more, the only sound being the clink of Peach's fork against her plate and the shuffling of Ganondorf's newspaper. Ness was no longer eating his pancakes, simply pushing them around on his plate.

After about five minutes, the sound of footsteps resounded from the hallway, and soon the two canines in question came walking into the kitchen. Fox was idly scratching the top of his head, and Wolf was adjusting his vest. Both seemed a bit groggy.

"Hey, all." Fox gave them a tired wave.

There was a murmur of hello's from the table. Unbeknownst to the two newcomers, all eyes were acutely fixated on them.

Fox made his way over to the coffeepot on the counter. He held out the empty pot towards Wolf. "Coffee?"

Wolf shrugged. "Sure, might as well." He stretched his arms over his head, letting out a yawn. "I could use a pick-me-up."

Fox got to work on brewing some more coffee while Wolf idly clasped his hands together, slowly meandering his way towards the table, completely unaware that everyone at said table was staring at him intently.

He glanced down towards the plates already on the table, using his arms for support as he leaned forward. "Ooh, eggs. That sounds good."

"I could make us some, if you want." Fox called from behind his back.

"Long as it's not too much of a hassle."

Fox turned in his coffee-preparation. "Hassle? Hardly. The appliances this place comes equipped with make breakfast-cooking easier than taking a dump."

Wolf smirked. "Long as it doesn't taste the same."

He chuckled before turning back towards the table, pulling a chair out. The four sitting there collectively held their breath.

Completely oblivious, Wolf sat down on the chair with a plop, giving a small whine as his rear came in contact with the hard wood. He had to quickly readjust his position, grimacing.

And that was enough for Ganondorf, who couldn't help but grin as he nodded to himself. "Yep, yep, that's definitely what happened."

Peach laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "You _are_ good."

Wolf looked around, confused. "…eh?"

Lucario had now joined in the chuckling, letting himself lean forward on the table. Even Ness was grinning to himself, even though he had no idea what was going on.

"H-hey, what gives? What's so funny?" Wolf looked from one person to the next, his eyebrows furrowed.

Ganondorf waved his hand as if to brush off the comment. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Inside joke."

Wolf grumbled a bit to himself, sliding lower in his chair. Damn inside jokes. Why did it always seem like _he _was the one left in the dark? Plus, he couldn't help but feel like they were laughing at _him_.

This was going to take some serious readjustment.


End file.
